The App Store protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020, Apple said Tuesday. And the company’s App Review team rejected thousands of fraudulent applications.
The timing for this statement from the iPhone-maker isn’t accidental. In the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, the game developer argues that the App Store is a hinderance to innovation. Cupertino wants customers to hear its side of the story, too.
Apple prevents billions in credit card fraud
Criminals frequently attempt to use stolen credit card numbers on the App Store. Apple says it “focuses relentlessly” on preventing them from being successful. In 2020, it stopped 3 million stolen cards from being used.
“In total, Apple protected users from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020,” the company said.
App Review blocks fraudulent apps
Apple employees review all applications individually before allowing them on the App Store. “In 2020 alone, the App Review team rejected more than 48,000 apps for containing hidden or undocumented features, and more than 150,000 apps were rejected because they were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading to users in ways such as manipulating them into making a purchase,” the company said.
Of these, Apple removed about 95,000 applications for bait-and-switch tactics. That means developers designed the software to perform other functions after the apps gained approval. This included gambling apps, predatory loan issuers and pornography hubs, according to Apple. For more on this topic, read Cult of Mac’s reasons why Apple needs to ramp up its app review team.
Apple also cracks down on shady developers. The company said it terminated 470,000 developer accounts in 2020 and rejected an additional 205,000 developer enrollments.
Plus, the iPhone-maker works to prevent the abuse of the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. This allows participating companies to side-load software, without going through the App Store. However, these apps are only supposed to be used by company employees.
Chart: Apple
Source: Apple
